Housekeeping: King is a free agent

At the ballpark. Some bits and pieces.

* LHP Ray King is a free agent. The Nationals optioned him down to Class AAA Columbus last week. King didn't want to go. Over the weekend, the Nationals quietly recalled him to get him back on the 40-man roster, then passed him through waivers. After he cleared, they "outrighted" him to Columbus. King declined. Therefore, he's a free agent. (Lots a baseball transaction jargon there for you.) It'll be interested if anyone picks him up.

* OF Michael Burgess was named the South Atlantic League's player of the week. He hit .310 (9 for 29) with five homers and 11 RBI. Burgess is now hitting .253 with eight homers and 17 RBI -- slugging .602 -- in 23 games.

* Class AAA Columbus played a 17-inning game yesterday, scoring three in the top of the 17th to beat Louisville. Took four hours and 58 minutes -- with a 40-minute rain delay. Tyler Clippard had his most effective start of the season -- six innings, two hits, one run, no earned runs, four walks, four strikeouts. Gary Majewski threw two scoreless innings for Louisville. Chris Schroder pitched two innings, allowing two hits and striking out four -- lowering his ERA to 1.08 -- to pick up the win, and Mike Bacsik actually got the save with one scoreless inning. Pete Orr went 4 for 8.